In watercraft, it has been popular to provide steps fixed to the craft to facilitate boarding from and unboarding to the water, such as for water skiing, jet skiing and swimming. Typically, there are two steps, one of which is fixed to the rear of the boat and the other is manually movable between folded and unfolded positions for use. The problem is that after a person unboards or boards the craft, the foldable step must be pulled upward for folding, so that it does not drag in the water. This folding process is cumbersome as it involves leaning far over the stern of the craft and reaching down and pulling up the foldable step. This is particularly hard for children to do. Some existing boats have a single movable step movably mounted on guide rails, but this step suffers from the same drawbacks as the above steps.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,244 discloses a retractable stirrup for a jet watercraft, but this stirrup is mounted to brackets fixed to the craft. It is not connected to another step or to movable rollers.
What is needed are steps that can retract automatically with respect to a fixed step or a movable step on guide rails that can retract automatically.